Such vibration absorbers can be used, for instance, at a connecting point of two shafts, for example of a drive shaft and a cardan shaft, of a motor vehicle. Shaft ends can be connected by means of connecting devices which are capable of compensating a slight angular misalignment, for example. Such connecting devices may also have vibration dampers or absorbers in order to avoid irregularities of the rotary movement, for example torsional vibrations, which are caused by a drive means, for example an internal combustion engine, being propagated over the entire drive train.
Legal requirements regarding fuel economy can be met by a plurality of measures. Inter alia, it is possible to economize on fuel by engine cascade charging, turning off cylinders (AFM), a reduced number of cylinders (downsizing) or a motor operation at very low rotational speeds (down speeding). These measures frequently cause an increase of the torsional vibrations generated by the drive means, particularly in the low-frequency range.
Torsional joint shaft absorbers, which have, for example, a vibration absorber of the type mentioned in the introduction, can effectively reduce torsional vibrations in the drive train. Vibration absorbers, in particular rotary or torsional vibration absorbers, usually co-rotate with the shaft whose vibrations they are supposed to absorb. Consequently, when designing such components co-rotating with the drive train, care must be taken that the unbalance, for example of the joint shaft, does not increase excessively due to the joint shaft absorber attached, thereby inadvertently generating additional radial vibrations.